Chris Wilson Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 The SMIC CW does is quite cheap IMO - it's certainly well made and good quality, and drops straight into the existing mounting points without any aggro whatsoever. I would fully recommend it - I've had mine on for coming up to 2 years now and it's been flawless. It's also uprated over the original unit, and will be a brand-new item as opposed to a 2nd hand one. Personally, I'm surprised they're as cheap as they are - I reckon he could sell them at twice the price! It costs less than a set of tyres and will last far longer. They are cheap for what they are, and I honestly make VERY little on them. I have one left in stock... Whether the demand exists nowadays for it to be worth my while ordering the minum order quantity of six more i am undecided. as the MKIV gets cheaper it's harder to sell quality bits and bobs. I moving onto Skylines more and more as the later ones still have a fairly high value and people seem more inclined to spend the dough on them still. Thanks for the kind feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 No problem -I would have thought that these days there would be more demand for them, as cars gets older and in more need of replacement IC's which don't cost a third of the value of the car itself, but then what do I know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faye Brother Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Group Buy on CW's SMIC's? I certainly need to replace my current ic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 People seem more keen to wreck the handling with 19 inch rims and dodgy suspension in bizarre anodized colours than worry about a hard to see none bling I/C these days To put prices in perspective have just had a Footwork / Arrows gearbox back from a full rebuild in a "new" secondhand casing. 38K UK pounds...plus VAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Yikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Add on a Judd V10 crank and rods at 10K and you can see why *buying* a nineties f1 car is the cheap bit, running the things is something else entirely! Bit like buying a listed building, tempting to buy, a nightmare to own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Not yours then I take it? One question I always meant to ask - at some point I'm hoping to go for a single conversion, but like you I hate the thought of making the car all 'bling' unnecessarily, so want to keep it as stealth as possible. Would your SMIC be up to the demands of a not-silly single? I'll only be looking in the BL61 range so as to keep drivability, not a gigantic lag monster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandan Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Chris, If you were doing a fast road spec bpu Supra (or maybe even a small single) would you fit a front mount of any type or would you always go for one of yours? I'm talking about a front mount where the time was spent to duct it as best as possible and make all attempts to keep water cooling up to scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian C Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 It's a shame that people buy a Supra for 10k and expect prices of spares for a 50k car to have dropped to 20% of their original cost as well. I don't understand the thought process behind that. Still, having said that, the Blueprint brake discs are a fair bit cheaper than OEM and they are IMO better Can't think of much else though. Maybe the motorised aerial? Branners is running a T61 with a buggered stock SMIC and his car hasn't blown up yet (although my toes are curling as I write this lol), so a new CW one would be sufficient I reckon. The ducting makes all the difference. -Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Absolutely KeithC, my intercooler would be ideal. Don't forget you will be (hopefully.....) running a turbo that is operating bang in the middle of its efficiency "island", and as such won't be heating the charge air anything like as much as the stock turbos at even 1.1 bar boost, so intercooling is less critical, IYSWIM. You are not trying to prop up turbos that are overspeeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Chris, If you were doing a fast road spec bpu Supra (or maybe even a small single) would you fit a front mount of any type or would you always go for one of yours? I'm talking about a front mount where the time was spent to duct it as best as possible and make all attempts to keep water cooling up to scratch. Properly ducting a FMIC and the water rad on a MKIV is extremely difficult, due to the lack of space. Given a clean sheet of paper one would make atotally bespoke fron bumper and design it and the IC together as a package, as Toyota have done with the SMIC and bumper and water rad. I have yet to see a FMIC that even vaguely looks like its working at the capacity it hould on a MKIV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted March 31, 2005 Author Share Posted March 31, 2005 Aye, that's why I don't want to go 'half-ar$ed FMIC' route, even though there are lots of competitively-priced kits arournd. If there is a group buy on CW SMICs I'd certainly be interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith C Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 Ooh, hadn't thought of it like that. I guess when you do the job properly you don't need crutches... I'm kinda surprised TRD don't offer some sort of specific IC to go with their front nose cone, ah well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toms Supra Posted March 31, 2005 Share Posted March 31, 2005 I sooooo need one!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Checked price of original Toyota SMIC here, £550+, which will be cheap compared to Toyota UK prices. So Chris' IC still looks best SMIC option available Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJI Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 sorry for reposting this from earlier but how does CW's SMICs compare to the ones done by RadTech? Found here from a previous group buy: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showth...ght=intercooler Basically are CW's SMICs a similar increase in size over the stock units as shown in the pictures from the above link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnK Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Slight hijack, Kieth, Ian - Im running a resonable condition stock IC with a BL61 kit, so far I have no problems at all, running 1.1 bar I have yet to see EGT's go above 800c. If the stock can handle it, im sure Chris's would be the most cost efective option as as well as probably being the best for the performance. When mine needs replacing I hope Chris will have 1 left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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